Sri Lankan Civil Society Calls on the Government to Save the Life of the Female House Maid in Saudi Arabia

We the undersigned express our deep dismay and distress that as a yet unnamed Sri Lankan housemaid living in Saudi Arabia has been found guilty of adultery and has been sentenced to death by stoning.

According to newspaper reports, a court in Riyadh sentenced the woman, reportedly a mother of two, based on her confession. The male worker involved in the case who has been found guilty of fornication (as he is not married) has been given a sentence of 100 lashes. Little is known of the circumstances of the case; generally these cases are difficult to prove as it must be corroborated by four male witnesses or eight female witnesses. However since the woman pleaded guilty the case has been exempted from this standard of proof.

In response to the conviction, the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE) and the Ministry of Foreign Employment has expressed concern and instructed the Sri Lankan Embassy in Saudi Arabia to take all steps to save the convicted woman. The SLBFE has hired a lawyer to appear on behalf of the woman in order to obtain a revocation of the death sentence. Minister Thalatha Athukorale has however noted that this would be an uphill task given that the woman has confessed to the offence.

This is the second instance that a Sri Lankan housemaid has been given the death sentence. Previously Rizana Nazeek was beheaded on 9th January 2013 for the alleged murder of a four-month old baby boy. Nafeek’s conviction was also based on a confession, which she later claimed was made under duress and without linguistic assistance. Following a case which dragged on for five years and despite appeals made by the government of Sri Lanka and international and local women’s and human rights organisations, the Saudi government went ahead with her execution in January 2013.

According to Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia is amongst the top three countries that implement the death penalty and the majority of those who are executed are foreign nationals convicted for non-lethal crimes such as adultery, apostasy, sorcery and witchcraft.

We appeal to THE RESPECTIVE AUTHORITIES TO take all possible measures to revoke the death sentence and ensure the migrant worker’s safe return to Sri Lanka. We EARNESTLY call on you to expeditiously bring to bear all possible means to ensure that the migrant worker is granted justice. We further call on you to ensure that Sri Lankan migrant workers are granted all possible support and protection to ensure their human rights.